


Flipping Crimson

by chromyrose



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Bathing/Washing, F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, HSWC Bonus Round, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Quadrant Vacillation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-23
Updated: 2014-05-23
Packaged: 2018-01-26 04:44:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1675145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chromyrose/pseuds/chromyrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Equius♦/♥Nepeta</p>
<p>Remember when they flipped quadrants?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flipping Crimson

**Author's Note:**

> for Bonus Round 1 of the 2014 HSWC

It was an accident, insofar as Nepeta did not go to Equius' hive intending for it to happen. She had gone to his hive because she hadn't seen him in nearly a perigee, and it was nights and nights since he last signed onto Trollian; she was fully capable of identifying the signs of a troll in need of an intervention, and Equius was it. True enough, he smelled more strongly of sweat than usual, and his hair was limp with grease. Thankfully, Nepeta noted a plate of crumbs on his work table, so she was able to ascertain that he'd at least eaten in the past few weeks. She grabbed him by the scruff of his wifebeater, and using his daze and his instinctive control not to harm her to her advantage, she brought Equius to his ablutionblock and drew up a bath. 

“Strip,” she demanded of him earnestly, and it was a testament to their moirallegiance that he didn't flustered too terribly at the order. Equius had seemingly come to his senses, and was beginning to protest being taken away from his work when he was doing something he insisted was _'important, Nepeta!'_

She shook her head and pounced on him; Equius braced himself, but did not flinch, even as she tore his shirt off. 

“I trust you can handle the rest!” Nepeta chirped brightly, and though he was scowling Equius undid his belt buckle. She turned away to give him a modicum of privacy, which was silly because she was going to be the one bathing him anyways. The trap was nearly full of warm water now; warm for her would certainly be hot enough to ease the tightness of his muscles, with the difference in their body temperatures. Nepeta went into the cupboard under his sink, and pulled out the good smelling bubble bath she'd bought him ages ago, and his preferred hair care products (the packaging proclaimed they'd turn “a tangled mess into the finest mane” and there was a horse drawn on the bottle; he was terribly predicable). When the bubbles covered the surface of the water in the trap, Nepeta found the smell and look of them too enticing to ignore; how long had it been since she'd had a proper ablution? And why in the world would Equius have a trap so large if he didn't ever want to share it? They had shared everything else in their time as moirails, even his recuperacoon the day a vicious storm rolled in and he insisted she was not going home. 

Nepeta talked herself into taking off her hat and coat before Equius sank into the trap with a loud, shudder that sounded downright filthy. It only made her all the more aware of what she was doing, what he had not noticed her doing yet; he probably had just assumed she did not want her outer garments getting wet. She licked her lips and then got to her feet, and pulled her pants down. _That_ got Equius' attention. 

“Nepeta, what in the name of- no. Oh gog, no, absohoofly not!” 

“Aw, boo,” she retorted, though she felt herself quavering on the inside. “It's just ablutions, Equihiss!” 

“Bathing together is... it isn't proper pale behavior.” 

Nepeta shifted her weight from one leg to the other; they were getting cold now that she wasn't wearing pants. “It's not like we're conventional palemates anyways!” She protested. “We're closer than that...”

Equius' throat bobbed visibly. He said nothing, even though his lips quavered as if he meant to, and a deep blue color spread over his cheekbones. Nepeta gave a tiny grin and peeled off the rest of her clothing, then put a toe into the trap first. She giggled awkwardly as she submerged herself in water; there was about a foot's worth of space between their legs, more between their chests, but they were _bathing together_.

“This is so lewd,” Equius moaned, tilting his head back and leaning it against the wall. “One moirail bathing another, that is perfectly acceptable, but this...”

“Stop complaining,” Nepeta pouted at him. “I know if you were really upset you'd leave the trap, but you're not. If you're only bothered because ofur people say you should be, don't be!” 

He looked sheepish, and Nepeta took the chance to bridge the space between them. “Sometimes it's so hard not to feel completely furrlushed for you with how pitiable the hemospectrum makes you,” she murmured. “You're like the biggest, strongest troll but you let some stupid rules stop you from being happy.”

Without his shades on, Nepeta was able to watch Equius' eyelids droop, and he bit his lip; she worried some of his chipped, sharp teeth would pierce the skin. 

“I cannot lose you as a moirail,” he said to her firmly. “There is no one else in the universe I trust to pacify me the way you do, Nepeta.”

The compliment made her giddy and lightheaded, but it did nothing to abate her desire to kiss him. 

“You're not going to lose me as anything,” she insisted softly, and then she leaned in and kissed him. She put her hand on his chest and felt the movement of his muscles beneath her palm, rippling as his bloodpusher pounded stronger than she'd ever felt it before. To Nepeta's surprise, Equius requited the kiss, lifting his neck just enough that his mouth moved against hers. 

They washed one another and Nepeta continued to give Equius tiny kisses all over his face and body as she took care of him, to the extent that neither was absolutely certain what quadrant exactly they were acting in. After they were dressed, both in pairs of Equius' clean sweats that had to be cinched rolled up in the leg for Nepeta, Aurthour brought food to one of Equius' entertainment blocks and they watched My Miniature Hoofbeast until they slept, nestled in a soft pile of their joint making and completely wrapped around one another.


End file.
